Spice, “I did not bleach, my ‘bleaching’ in the video was to create awareness.”
Jamaican dancehall artist Grace Hamilton alias Spice shocked fans when she posted a photo of herself with noticeably lighter skin last month after she dropped a new song called Black hypocrisy.
The song which caused a buzz globally, highlighted the issue of colorism, whereby the reality TV star addressed the constant comments of her being too black from fellow black people. In the video, she is seen to have ‘bleached’ her skin and asking if her skin color is more appealing.
Based on images making their runs on the internet, many assumed that she had opted to lighten her complexion with cosmetic creams, opening the door to a larger discussion about colorism in the Afro-Caribbean community. While many thought this might be her new and permanent look, the artist shared a lengthy post on Instagram on Friday (Nov. 2), explaining the shocking photo.
She posted on Instagram “There are dark skin women across the world complaining every day that they are being downplayed and degraded, but the raw truth is it is us ‘black women’ and “black men” that are fighting against each other and tearing down our own race,” she continued. “It’s evident in the social media comments every day, I myself have lived through it all being downgraded by my dark complexion.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BprucSzjWKc/
The “So Mi Like It” singer also noted that she did not bleach her skin and that she was proud of her natural complexion. That it was not a publicity stunt and that she did what she had to do in order to create awareness on the matter.
The 36-year-old has just released a follow-up track dubbed “Under Fire” following the backlash she received for the tack “Black Hypocrisy”. Both singles appear on her new mixtape “Captured”, which is currently available online.
